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Wikipǣdia:How to edit a page

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See also Help:Editing, m:Help:Editing

Wikipedia is a Wiki, which means that anyone can easily edit any unprotected article and have those changes posted immediately to that page.

Editing a Wiki page is easy:

Simply click on the "Edit this page" tab at the top (or the edit link on the right or bottom) of a Wiki page. This will bring you to a page with a text box containing the editable text of that page. (If you want to experiment, please do so in our sandbox, not here. You could open the sandbox in a separate window or tab to be able to see both this text and your tests in the sandbox.)

Type away, write a short edit summary on the small field below the edit-box. You may use shorthand to describe your changes, as described in the legend, and when finished, press preview to see how your changes will look. Then press "Save". Depending on your system, pressing "Enter" while the edit box is not active (when there is no typing cursor in it) may have the same effect as pressing the "Save" button. Also, please do not vandalise the information on Wikipedia.

You can also click on the "Discussion" tab (or the "Discuss this page" link) to see the corresponding talk page, which contains comments about the page from other Wikipedia users. Click on the "+" tab (or "Edit this page") to add a comment.

More information on editing wiki pages

This page is the reference for wiki markup. You may also want to learn about:

Tips on editing Wikipedia articles

Please use a neutral point of view, and please cite your sources so others can check and extend your work.

It is often more convenient to copy and paste the text first into your favorite text editor, edit and spell check there, and then paste back into the browser to preview. This way, you can also keep a local backup copy of the pages you authored so that you can make changes offline. Some text editors can be specially adapted to edit Wikipedia articles: see Wikipedia:syntax highlighting.

If during editing you want to see the current version again, open "Cancel" in a new window. This does not cancel your edit.

After making a new page, it's a good idea to

  • With your page displayed, use What links here to check the articles that already link to it, and make sure that they are all expecting the same meaning that you have supplied;
  • Use the Search button to launch a Google search of Wikipedia for your topic title (and possibly variants), to find articles that mention it, and make links from them if appropriate;
  • Check for corresponding articles in the Wikipedias of other languages that you can read.

Safari browser 60-second timeout

If you use the Safari browser on Mac OS X, you may find that the 60-second browser timeout is shorter than the amount of time it takes for your edit to be acknowledged, especially when server load is high. Clicking "Save page" again will cause the edit to be repeated, which can be disastrous when doing section edits. You may want to install SafariNoTimeout, a free extension that will increase the 60-second timeout to 10 minutes. Note that this "haxie" does not require Application Enhancer. Alternatively, the Safari plug-in Saft also allows you to alter the timeout, although it is not free.

Minor edits

See also Wikipedia:Minor edit

When editing a page, a logged-in user can mark that edit as "minor". Minor edits generally mean spelling corrections, formatting, and minor rearranging of text. It is possible to hide minor edits when viewing Wikipedia:Recent Changes. Marking a significant change as a minor edit is considered bad behavior, and even more so if it involves the deletion of some text. If one has accidentally marked an edit as minor, the person should edit the source once more, mark it major (or, rather, ensure that the check-box for "This is a minor edit" is not checked), and, in the summary, state that the previous change was a major one.

The wiki markup

In the left column of the table below, you can see what effects are possible. In the right column, you can see how those effects were achieved. In other words, to make text look like it looks in the left column, type it in the format you see in the right column.

You may want to keep this page open in a separate browser window for reference. If you want to try out things without danger of doing any harm, you can do so in the Sandbox.

Sections, paragraphs, lists and lines

What it looks like What you type

Start your sections as follows:

New section

Subsection

Sub-subsection

  • Start with a second-level heading (==); do not use first-level headings (=).
  • Do not skip levels (e.g., second-level followed by fourth-level).
 
==New section==

===Subsection===

====Sub-subsection====

A single newline generally has no effect on the layout. These can be used to separate sentences within a paragraph. Some editors find that this aids editing and improves the diff function (used internally to compare different versions of a page).

But an empty line starts a new paragraph.

  • When used in a list, a newline does affect the layout (see below).
 
A single [[newline]]
generally has no effect on the layout. 
These can be used to separate
sentences within a paragraph.
Some editors find that this aids editing
and improves the ''diff'' function
(used internally to compare
different versions of a page).

But an empty line
starts a new paragraph.

You can break lines
without starting a new paragraph.

  • Please use this sparingly.
 
You can break lines<br>
without starting a new paragraph.
  • Lists are easy to do:
    • Start every line with a star.
      • More stars means deeper levels.
        • A newline in a list

marks the end of a list item.

  • An empty line starts a new list.
 
* Lists are easy to do:
** Start every line with a star.
*** More stars means deeper levels.
**** A newline in a list
marks the end of a list item.

* An empty line starts a new list.
  1. Numbered lists are also good
    1. very organized
    2. easy to follow
 
# Numbered lists are also good
## very organized
## easy to follow
  • You can even do mixed lists
    1. and nest them
      • like this
 
* You can even do mixed lists
*# and nest them
*#* like this
Definition list
list of definitions
item
the item's definition
another item
the other item's definition
  • One item per line; a newline can appear before the colon, but using a space before the colon improves parsing.
 
; Definition list : list of definitions
; item : the item's definition
; another item
: the other item's definition
A colon indents a line or paragraph.

A manual newline starts a new paragraph.

  • This is primarily for displayed material, but is also used for discussion on Talk pages.
 
: A colon indents a line or paragraph.
A manual newline starts a new paragraph.

IF a line starts with a space THEN
it will be formatted exactly
as typed;
in a fixed-width font;
lines won't wrap;
ENDIF
this is useful for:
* pasting preformatted text;
* algorithm descriptions;
* program source code;
* ASCII art;
* chemical structures;
  • WARNING: If you make it wide, you force the whole page to be wide and hence less readable, especially for people who use lower resolutions. Never start ordinary lines with spaces.
 
 IF a line starts with a space THEN
 it will be formatted exactly
 as typed;
 in a fixed-width font;
 lines won't wrap;
 ENDIF
 this is useful for:
 * pasting preformatted text;
 * algorithm descriptions;
 * program source code;
 * [[ASCII art]];
 * chemical structures;
Centered text.
 
<center>Centered text.</center>

A horizontal dividing line: this is above it

and this is below it.

  • Mainly useful for separating threads on Talk pages.
  • Also used to disambiguate within an article without creating a separate page.
 
A [[horizontal dividing line]]:
this is above it
----
and this is below it.
Hwæt hit æfterhyriaþ Hwæt þu wrítst

London hæfþ public transport.

  • Bend tó óðrum Wicipǽdiangewrite.
  • Internally, the first letter of the target page is automatically capitalized and spaces are represented as underscores (typing an underscore in the link has the same effect as typing a space, but is not recommended).
  • Thus the link above is to the URL http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport, which is the Wikipedia article with the name "Public transport". See also Wikipedia:Canonicalization.
 
London hæfþ [[public transport]].

San Francisco éac hæfþ public transportation.

  • Same target, different name.
  • This is a piped link.
 
San Francisco also has
[[public transport|public transportation]].

San Francisco also has public transportation.

Examples include buses, taxis and streetcars.

  • Endings are blended into the link.
  • Preferred style is to use this instead of a piped link, if possible.
 
San Francisco also has
[[public transport]]ation.

Examples include [[bus]]es, [[taxi]]s
and [[streetcar]]s.

See the Wikipedia:Manual of Style. 

See the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]].

Automatically hide stuff in parentheses: kingdom.

Automatically hide namespace: Þorpes Wiella.

Or both: Manual of Style

Ac ná: [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Links|]]

  • The server fills in the part after the pipe character (|) when you save the page. The next time you open the edit box you will see the expanded piped link. When previewing your edits, you will not see the expanded form until you press Save and Edit again. The same applies to links to sections within the same page (see previous entry).
 
Automatically hide stuff in parentheses:
[[kingdom (biology)|]].

Automatically hide namespace: 
[[Wikipedia:Þorpes Wiella|]].

Or both:
[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style (headings)|]]

Ac ná:
[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Links|]]

The weather in London is a page that doesn't exist yet.

  • You can create it by clicking on the link (but please don't do so with this particular link).
  • To create a new page:
    1. Create a link to it on some other (related) page.
    2. Save that page.
    3. Click on the link you just made. The new page will open for editing.
  • For more information, see How to start a page and check out Wikipedia's naming conventions.
  • Please do not create a new article without linking to it from at least one other article.
 
[[The weather in London]] is a page 
that doesn't exist yet.

Wikipedia:How to edit a page is this page.

  • Self links appear as bold text when the article is viewed.
  • Do not use this technique to make the article name bold in the first paragraph; see the Manual of Style.
 
[[Wikipedia:How to edit a page]] is this page.

When adding a comment to a Talk page, you should sign it by adding three tildes to add your user name:

Montrealais

or four to add user name plus date/time:

Montrealais 08:10 Oct 5, 2002 (UTC)

These both provide a link to your user page.

Five tildes gives the date/time alone:

12:57, 22 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 
When adding a comment to a Talk page,
you should sign it by adding
three tildes to add your user name:
: ~~~
or four for user name plus date/time:
: ~~~~

Five tildes gives the date/time alone:
: ~~~~~
  • Redirect one article title to another by placing a directive like the one shown to the right on the first line of the article (such as at a page titled "USA").
  • Note that it is not possible to redirect to a section. For example, "#REDIRECT [[United States#History]]" will redirect to the United States page, but not to any particular section on it. This feature will not be implemented in the future, so such redirects should not be used.
 
#REDIRECT [[United States]]
  • Link to a page on the same subject in another language by using a link of the form: [[language code:Title]].
  • It does not matter where you put these links while editing as they will always show up in the same place when you save the page, but placement at the end of the edit box is recommended.
  • Please see Wikipedia:Interlanguage links and the list of languages and codes.
 
[[fr:Wikipédia:Aide]]

What links here and Related changes pages can be linked as: Special:Whatlinkshere/Wikipedia:How to edit a page and Special:Recentchangeslinked/Wikipedia:How to edit a page 

'''Hwæt bindeþ hér''' and '''Related changes'''
pages can be linked as:
[[Special:Whatlinkshere/Wikipedia:How to edit a page]]
and
[[Special:Recentchangeslinked/Wikipedia:How to edit a page]]

A user's Contributions page can be linked as: Special:Contributions/UserName or Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0 

A user's '''Contributions''' page can be linked as:
[[Special:Contributions/UserName]]
or
[[Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0]]
  • To put an article in a Wikipedia:Category, place a link like the one to the right anywhere in the article.
 
[[Category:Character sets]]
  • To link to a Wikipedia:Category page without putting the article into the category, use an initial colon (:) in the link.
 
[[:Category:Character sets]]

Bendung tó óðrum wicis:

  1. Interwiki link: Wiktionary:Hello
  2. Named interwiki link: Hello
  3. Interwiki link without prefix: Hello

Linking to another language's wiktionary:

  1. Wiktionary:fr:Bonjour
  2. Bonjour
  3. fr:Bonjour
 
Linking to other wikis:
# [[Interwiki]] link: [[Wiktionary:Hello]]
# Named interwiki link: [[Wiktionary:Hello|Hello]]
# Interwiki link without prefix: [[Wiktionary:Hello|]]

Linking to another language's wiktionary:
# [[Wiktionary:fr:Bonjour]]
# [[Wiktionary:fr:Bonjour|Bonjour]]
# [[Wiktionary:fr:Bonjour|]]

ISBN 012345678X

ISBN 0-123-45678-X

  • Link to books using their ISBN numbers. This is preferred to linking to a specific online bookstore, because it gives the reader a choice of vendors.
  • ISBN links do not need any extra markup, provided you use one of the indicated formats.
 
ISBN 012345678X

ISBN 0-123-45678-X

Date formats:

  1. July 20, 1969
  2. 20 July 1969
  3. 1969-07-20
  • Link dates in one of the above formats, so that everyone can set their own display order. If logged in, you can use Special:Preferences to change your own date display setting.
  • All of the above dates will appear as "20 July 1969" if you set your date display preference to "15 January 2001", but as "July 20, 1969" if you set it to "January 15, 2001".
 
Date formats:
# [[July 20]], [[1969]]
# [[20 July]] [[1969]]
# [[1969]]-[[07-20]]

Sound

  • To include links to non-image uploads such as sounds, use a "media" link. For images, see next section.

Some uploaded sounds are listed at Wikipedia:Sound. 

[[media:Sg_mrob.ogg|Sound]]

Images

What it looks like What you type
A picture:
Wikipedia Encyclopedia

 
A picture: [[Ymele:Wikipedia-logo-v2(W2)-ang.svg]]

or, with alternative text 

[[Ymele:Wikipedia-logo-v2(W2)-ang.svg|jigsaw globe]]

or, floating to the right side of the page and with a caption. 

A picture: [[Ymele:Wikipedia-logo-v2(W2)-ang.svg|frame|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]]

or, floating to the right side of the page without a caption. 

[[Ymele:Wikipedia-logo-v2(W2)-ang.svg|right|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]]

The frame tag automatically floats the image right. Always add alternative texts to images, even if it has no caption.

Clicking on an uploaded image displays a description page, which you can also link directly to: Image:Wikipedia-logo-ang.png 


[[:Ymele:Wikipedia-logo-v2(W2)-ang.svg]]

To include links to images shown as links instead of drawn on the page, use a "media" link.


Image of a Tornado 



[[media:Tornado aircraft.jpg|Image of a Tornado]]

Character formatting

What it looks like What you type

Emphasize, strongly, very strongly.

  • These are double and triple apostrophes (single-quote marks), not double-quote marks.
 
''Emphasize'', '''strongly''', '''''very strongly'''''.


sinx + lny


x = 0

Ordinary text should use wiki markup for emphasis, and should not use <i> or <b>. However, mathematical formulas often use italics, and sometimes use bold, for reasons unrelated to emphasis. Complex formulas should use <math> markup, and simple formulas may use <math>; or <i> and <b>; or '' and '''. According to WikiProject Mathematics, wiki markup is preferred over HTML markup like <i> and <b>. 

<math>\sin x + \ln y</math>
sin''x'' + ln''y''

<math>\mathbf{x} = 0</math>
'''x''' = 0

A typewriter font for monospace text or for computer code: int main()

  • For semantic reasons, using <code> where applicable is preferable to using <tt>.
 
A typewriter font for <tt>monospace text</tt>
or for computer code: <code>int main()</code>

You can use small text for captions. 

You can use <small>small text</small> for captions.

You can strike out deleted material and underline new material.

You can also mark deleted material and inserted material using logical markup rather than visual markup.

  • When editing regular Wikipedia articles, just make your changes and don't mark them up in any special way.
  • When editing your own previous remarks in talk pages, it is sometimes appropriate to mark up deleted or inserted material.
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